Rights Conferred by Registration; Copyright in a Registered Design — Intellectual Property Rights II Notes

Rights Conferred by Registration; Copyright in a Registered Design

The Designs Act uses a word that trips everyone up — it calls the proprietor’s exclusive right “copyright in the design”, even though it has nothing to do with the Copyright Act. And there is a trap in the overlap: once you register a design, you lose ordinary copyright in it. Know s.15 and you win both the definition question and the problem.

The proprietor’s right, and the design/copyright overlap

A. Copyright in the design — s.11

On registration, the proprietor gets “copyright in the design” — the exclusive right to apply the design to the article in the class registered — for 10 years, extendable by 5 (s.11). “Copyright” here simply means the exclusive right; it is a Designs-Act term, not the Copyright Act’s right.

B. Rights conferred

The registered proprietor may:

• exclusively apply the design to any article in the registered class;
• stop others from applying, importing or selling articles bearing the design or a fraudulent/obvious imitation (piracy, topic 4); and
• licence or assign the design (recorded with the Controller).

C. The overlap with the Copyright Act — s.15

This is the examined trap:

• s.15(1) — copyright under the Copyright Act does not subsist in any design that is registered under the Designs Act. (Once you register it as a design, you cannot also claim Copyright-Act protection.)
• s.15(2) — if a design is capable of being registered as a design but is not registered, any copyright in it under the Copyright Act ceases as soon as the article is reproduced more than 50 times by an industrial process.

Section 15(1), Copyright Act 1957: “Copyright shall not subsist under this Act in any design which is registered under the Designs Act.”

In Simple Terms: Registration gives you the exclusive right to apply the design (“copyright in the design”) for 10 + 5 years. But you must choose: register it as a design and you lose ordinary copyright (s.15(1)); leave it unregistered and copyright dies after 50 industrial reproductions (s.15(2)).

🧩 WORKED EXAMPLE — can X also claim copyright?

Facts. X has registered a design under the Designs Act 2000 and now asks whether he can also claim protection under the Copyright Act.

Rule. s.15(1), Copyright Act — copyright does not subsist in a design once it is registered under the Designs Act.

Apply. X has already registered the design; by s.15(1) he cannot simultaneously hold Copyright-Act protection in the same design.

Conclusion. X cannot claim copyright in addition; his protection is the Designs-Act “copyright in the design” (10 + 5 years) only.

⚠️ DON’T CONFUSE — “copyright in a design” vs copyright under the Copyright Act

“Copyright in the design” (s.11, Designs Act) is just the proprietor’s exclusive right to apply the design — a designs right lasting 10 + 5 years. It is NOT a Copyright-Act right. And by s.15(1) of the Copyright Act, a registered design cannot ALSO enjoy Copyright-Act protection. Do not double-count the two.

flowchart TD
    ROOT["A visual creation"]:::root
    ROOT --> Q{"Registered as a design?"}:::dec
    Q -->|"Yes"| A["Designs Act 'copyright' (s.11): 10 + 5 yrs; no Copyright Act (s.15(1))"]:::leaf
    Q -->|"No, but registrable"| B["Copyright ends after 50 industrial reproductions (s.15(2))"]:::leaf
    classDef root fill:#FFF8DC,stroke:#000,stroke-width:1px,color:#000;
    classDef dec fill:#FDECC8,stroke:#B7791F,color:#000;
    classDef leaf fill:#E6F3FF,stroke:#1E3A8A,color:#000;
    linkStyle default stroke:#888,stroke-width:1px;

Case Laws

• Microfibres Inc. v Girdhar & Co. (2009) — the s.15 line between artistic-work copyright and industrial-design protection.

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